The bottles of Port and myself are in Tucson, Arizona. Since acquisition, the bottles have been stored in climatised storage. If you will send me an email address I will send you some photos. This "PortForum"application did not allow me to post any images - I don't know why.

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you've found a collection of very knowledgeable and fanatical Port drinkers!

The bad news is that you've found a collection of very knowledgeable and fanatical Port drinkers!

None of those Ports are particularly rare with the exception of the 1952 Niepoort, which is a type of Port called a Garrafeira. Those are pretty rare and can command a fairly high price. Unfortunately the rest are either common years or second tier producers/Ports. I'll give you approximate retail value in the US, but you should not expect to get that in a private transaction. Generally you'll get 60% to 70% of retail for a private sale in the US unless you have a relationship with the buyer or some sort of documentation regarding the provenance of the Port.

1. Offley 1980 "Boa Vista"

1980 is a generally declared year, but Offley isn't a top tier producer. It isn't something that you can normally find easily, but that's more because it was all consumed back when it was in its prime than because it's being hoarded for future drinking. You'd be very lucky to get $100 for this in the US, and the $60 range is more likely. Don't get me wrong - it's a fine Port - but it's just not all that great.

2. Cockburn's 1963 "Vintage Port"

One of the better Ports on your list, and from an excellent year. These will hold for quite a few more years but are also superb for drinking now. Probably worth around $150 in the US, maybe more for someone born that year.

3. Graham's 1976 "Malvedos Vintage Porto"

1976 was not a generally declared year, which is why Graham's produced a Malvedos that year instead of a fully-declared Graham's Vintage Port. That said, Malvedos Ports are generally very good or better so this will be a tasty treat for whoever eventually gets to drink it. I'd value this bottle at roughly $100 in the US.

4. Dow's 1977 "Silver Jubilee Vintage Porto"

Another of the better Ports on your list... when the bottle is sound. Unfortunately 1977 Dow has an unreliable reputation which has limited its value on the secondary market. Retail prices vary wildly in no small part because many wine retailers don't really know much about Port and so price it based on its name and the year alone. (Other top-tier 1977 Vintage Ports sell for around $150/bottle.) Those that do know something about Port will have marked it down to the $100 range due to the problems with this particular Port.

5. Niepoorto 1952 "Port" - decanted 1974

The gem of your collection. Garrafeira is not a widely-known style of Port, but it has a strong following. Niepoort is also not a large producer, so their volumes are low, but they are generally well respected. A 1952 Garrafeira can command $350 - $400 at retail in the US, but sales opportunities are rare due to most people's lack of knowledge about the style. It takes a true aficionado to search out these Ports and be willing to pay the premium required to acquire them. Due to their legitimate rarity you may find much higher prices listed on the internet, but I would caution against getting too excited when you see them. There's a reason they're still listed at that price... it's because they haven't sold. These are often "trophy bottles" in a store's collection that they list well above expected value so that they can have something old and seemingly very valuable to display.

Delaforce is a second tier producer. Third tier might be closer to accurate. 1975 and 1977 were generally declared years, but 1978 was not. And 1975 is generally regarded as a low-end general declaration for a variety of reasons not germane to this discussion. As with the Offley above these may appear to be rare and/or hard to find, but it's more because they're now past their prime and have mostly been consumed than because they're rare and valuable. I would value these bottles at maybe $60 to $80 each in the US, though you'll likely find wildly differing estimates on the internet. And you'll probably have difficulty finding anyone actually interested in buying a Delaforce because they're generally just not that good.

So good of you to take so much time to help educate me. I truly appreciate the effort. You are correct when you state, " The good news is that you've found a collection of very knowledgeable and fanatical Port drinkers!" Obviously, you are one of them.

Your narrative makes a bundle of sense. I am getting quite a number of replies so I can only assume that they will all reflect your same concerns. Maybe I will just ignore the doctors and drink all nine Ports before i depart this earth. After all, at almost 82 years, what is my worst case?

At 81 years young, do you have any descendants to whom you could bequeath the Port with the instruction to have a party in your honor? A serving of Port is only about half the size of a serving of wine, so a single bottle of Port can easily be shared by 10 people. Especially if there are going to be 8 more bottles opened over the evening!

Another option would be to defy your doctor and enjoy the best 3 ('63 Cockburn, '77 Dow, '52 Niepoort) with friends and family, and then donate the rest to a charity auction or other such event.

I did not mean to imply that I would drink it all in the same night. Strange, but you picked the three bottles which I myself picked as probably being the most enjoyable. I will wait on an offer to see what direction I will take.

I am afraid that I am unfamiliar with the term "Colheita". Please elaborate for me.

A Colheita port is essentially a tawny port made from a specific year (compared with most tawny ports which are blends from multiple years).

However, I would guess that your Niepoort '52 is most likely a "Garrafeira" port - a much less common style occasionally released by Niepoort - based on your initial post which described it as "Niepoorto 1952 Port - decanted 1974". The Niepoort Garrafeira ports are unusual in that a large part of their maturation is in large glass demijohns; they are typically initially matured in wood for around 5 years, then transferred to large demijohns and matured for a further 20+ years prior to bottling for sale (there is quite a variable range to both periods; I have seen Garrafeiras with between 3-7yr in wood, and 9-30+ in demijohns, but the prior figures seem typical).

I expect that the label on your bottle would include "Niepoort 1952 port", "bottled 1955", and "decanted 1974"; so would have been made from grapes harvested in 1952, matured in barrels until 1955, then transferred to large glass demijohns ("bottled"), and aged in the demijohns until "decanted" into bottles in 1974. I'm aware of at least two variants of the Niepoort 1952 Garrafeira, one being "decanted" in 1974, the other in 1987 (both having been "bottled" in 1955), and it sounds as though your bottle is on of the former of these.